Title: A slippery moment
Author: thousand_miles
Rating: Teens
Disclaimer: Don't own any of these characters, though I wish Hotch was mine.
Summary: Emily falls, Hotch helps her. A sweet moment.
A/N: slightly OOC but hey, sometimes I think that's allowed. For the All I want for Christmas Hotch/Prentiss fic-a-thon. Not Christmas as a theme but it is winter so it kinda fits.
Reviews are welcome. No flames. Oow and English isn't my native language. And don't pin me down on the medical stuff. It's supposed to be light hearted. I don't think I'm that much off, but still.
A slippery moment
She shouldn't have worn these boots. Not with this weather. But she'd wanted to because she wanted to show them to JJ and Garcia. If only it wasn't so slippery. She made her way to the entrance of the FBI building in Quantico, slowly. She noticed it was especially slippery right before the steps leading to the door. So she threaded carefully.
Maybe it was a sound that distracted her, she didn't know. But her feet slipped away from under her and before she knew it, she was face down on the icy ground, but not before hitting the edge of the brick wall.
"Damnit", she cursed.
"Emily!" Unit chief Aaron Hotcher had been right behind Emily Prentiss and had seen her fall. Quickly, yet carefully, he walked up to her, crouching down next to her. " You okay?" He asked, worry clear in his soft voice.
Emily tried to look up at her boss. Was he worried, about her? Wait did he just call her Emily? That thought immediately left her mind when she tried to sit up. The cold ground wasn't something she wanted to be on for that long. But she regretted the move. Everything hurt.
"Where does it hurt? Can you get up?" The usually controlled, calm agent Hotchner wasn't himself. And it was because of her fall.
Sure she could get up, if only her knees, her ankle and her arm didn't hurt that much. Carefully she tried to stand up. She felt Hotch's hands on her arm and back, supporting her. With a few grunts she eventually got up.
"Let me help you." Hotch almost whispered. He saw how she was holding back her tears. She had fallen hard, harder than she would want to admit and she was in more pain than she wanted him to know.
Together they climbed the few steps to the door. The walk to his office seemed to last a lifetime. If every step she took didn't hurt so much, she might have enjoyed having Hotch so close. But as luck would have it, this was what it took to have him close, she had to be injured and in such pain that she couldn't fully appreciate the closeness.
Hotch gently led her to the couch in his office, helping her sit down. Crouching down in front of her he watched her closely. Her eyes were closed but he knew she was in pain.
"Let me look at you." He wanted to make sure she hadn't broken anything. Hearing no objection he took her injured foot in his hand. "New boots?"
That brought a small smile on her face. "Yeah." He was surprising her today.
Setting her boot on the floor he gently touched her foot and ankle. It was swollen, but didn't seem broken. "Let me get some ice for that."
He left her alone, on his couch, in his office. But it didn't take him long to get back to her. Crouching down before her again he took her ankle in his hand, gently placing the ice on it. She shivered because of the coldness. " Sorry."
Keeping her foot in his hands he looked at her. "Where else does it hurt?"
"I'm fine."
He wasn't convinced. He saw it in her eyes. But before he could get into it, the door to his office was pushed open.
"Hotch, look at this." Garcia called out. Searching for her boss she didn't find him at the desk. Looking around what she saw surprised her. Was that Hotch with Emily together, looking rather cozy? And was her foot in his hands? "Ooh gosh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt your…" Garcia didn't really know what to call it so she let it go.
She saw the way Garcia looked at them. "I fell, okay. Think I got a sprained ankle. Hotch helped me."
"And he's doing a good job, I see."
An uncomfortable silence fell between the three them, but Garcia had no problem filling it. "Are those boots new?" She picked one up. "Very nice. Well, I'll leave you two to it. Take good care of her Hotch." Garcia left the room, with a big grin. She couldn't wait to tell JJ all about it.
"Where else does it hurt?" Hotchner repeated his earlier question. "And tell me the truth." Het put the ice down and just gently started to rub her foot to make it warm again, not because he liked the feel of her skin beneath hands.
"It's just some scrapes and bruises. Nothing serious." She liked the feel of his strong, yet gently hands on her cold foot.
He let it go, but didn't let go of her foot. He watched the agent in front of him. She was beautiful, with her long dark hair, her dark eyes and fair skin. Skin that felt so soft under his hands. She was on his mind more and more lately. He didn't quite know when that had started. Knowing he couldn't keep her foot in his hands forever, he let go.
Emily reached for the boot and looked at it. She didn't know if she could get it on, and if she did, it wouldn't be comfortable at all.
"Leave it off. Put your feet up on the couch." He took off her other boot and put her feet up on the couch. "We don't have a case. We're all catching up on paperwork. You can do that here." He said before she even got the chance to protest. "I'll get you some coffee and your files. You sit and rest."
"But…"
"No." He placed his hand on her shoulder. "Let me do this, okay. Let me take care of you." And with those words he left a stunned Emily Prentiss in his office.
The End.